From 1953 through 1963, the category was known as The Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting, No Edition Time. From 1964 to 1984, it was known as The Pulitzer Prize for Local Investigative Specialized Reporting.[citation needed]

The Pulitzer Committee issues an official citation explaining the reasons for the award.

1958:George Beveridge, Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), "for his excellent and thought-provoking series, "Metro, City of Tomorrow," describing in depth the urban problems of Washington, D.C., which stimulated widespread public consideration of these problems and encouraged further studies by both public and private agencies."

1959:John Harold Brislin, Scranton Tribune and Scrantonian, "for displaying courage, initiative and resourcefulness in his effective four-year campaign to halt labor violence in his home city, as a result of which ten corrupt union officials were sent to jail and a local union was embolden to clean out racketeering elements."

1960:Miriam Ottenberg, Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), "for a series of seven articles exposing a used-car racket in Washington, D.C., that victimized many unwary buyers. The series led to new regulations to protect the public and served to alert other communities to such sharp practices."

1961:Edgar May, Buffalo Evening News, "for his series of articles on New York State's public welfare services entitled, Our Costly Dilemma, based in part on his three-month employment as a state case worker. The series brought about reforms that attracted nation-wide attention."

1962:George Bliss, Chicago Tribune, "for his initiative in uncovering scandals in the Metropolitan Sanitary District of Greater Chicago, with resultant remedial action."

1971:William Jones, Chicago Tribune, "for exposing collusion between police and some of Chicago's largest private ambulance companies to restrict service in low income areas, leading to major reforms."

1985:Lucy Morgan and Jack Reed, St. Petersburg Times (Florida), "for their thorough reporting on Pasco County Sheriff John Short, which revealed his department's corruption and led to his removal from office by voters."

1985:William K. Marimow, The Philadelphia Inquirer, "for his revelation that city police dogs had attacked more than 350 people - an exposure that led to investigations of the K-9 unit and the removal of a dozen officers from it."

2002:Sari Horwitz, Scott Higham, and Sarah Cohen, The Washington Post, "for a series that exposed the District of Columbia's role in the neglect and death of 229 children placed in protective care between 1993 and 2000, which prompted an overhaul of the city's child welfare system."

2003:Clifford J. Levy, The New York Times, "for his vivid, brilliantly written series 'Broken Homes' that exposed the abuse of mentally ill adults in state-regulated homes."

2007:Brett Blackledge of The Birmingham News, "for his exposure of cronyism and corruption in the state's two-year college system, resulting in the dismissal of the chancellor and other corrective action."

2009:David Barstow of The New York Times, for his tenacious reporting that revealed how some retired generals, working as radio and television analysts, had been co-opted by the Pentagon to make its case for the war in Iraq, and how many of them also had undisclosed ties to companies that benefited from policies they defended."

2010:Barbara Laker and Wendy Ruderman of the Philadelphia Daily News and Sheri Fink of ProPublica, in collaboration with The New York Times Magazine. Laker and Ruderman won for "their resourceful reporting that exposed a rogue police narcotics squad, resulting in an FBI probe and the review of hundreds of criminal cases tainted by the scandal", Fink for "a story that chronicles the urgent life-and-death decisions made by one hospital’s exhausted doctors when they were cut off by the floodwaters of Hurricane Katrina."

2011:Paige St. John of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, "for her examination of weaknesses in the murky property-insurance system vital to Florida homeowners, providing handy data to assess insurer reliability and stirring regulatory action."

2012:Matt Apuzzo, Adam Goldman, Eileen Sullivan and Chris Hawley of the Associated Press, "for their spotlighting of the New York Police Department’s clandestine spying program that monitored daily life in Muslim communities, resulting in congressional calls for a federal investigation, and a debate over the proper role of domestic intelligence gathering."